File:Lorane Christian Church.JPG

English: On August 3, 1887, Fielding Lemmon deeded a 1-acre portion of the John Delameter donation land claim to a board of trustees, consisting of Reuben Doty, R.A. Wray and W.H. Wiltse, on which a Christian church could be built. The material and labor for building the church were donated by the community. The Lorane Christian Church, originally known as the Christian Church of Cartwright, was completed in 1889. Because most of the church records were destroyed by fire in 1934, few details are known of its earlier history. Harry Crowe, a local historian, however remembered the building of both churches in an undated letter he wrote to the editor of The Eugene Register-Guard. “...Now I note in the (Lottie) Mitchell article that she mentions the Christian Church as having been built in 1859, and at the same time or thereabout the Methodist Church was also built. In this, I am sure Mrs. Mitchell is mistaken because I remember well when the frame-work was raised on the Christian Church and also the Methodist Church. The Christian Church was started two or three months before the Methodist Church but the Methodist Church was finished first. The Christian Church, after the frame-work was entirely up, was leveled to the ground by a terrific wind. I was old enough to remember, probably three years old, so these churches could not have been built before 1886 or 1887. In passing, I might say the Rev. Reuben Doty and Rev. William Wiltse sponsored the building of the Christian Church and Benjamin Franklin Crowe, my father’s bachelor uncle and his brother, Hardy, did most of the building and work on the Methodist Church and I believe put up most of the money. I remember my father, who looked on the humorous side of most subjects, laughing heartily over one of the Methodist congregation remarking that God must have sent the wind to blow down the ‘Campbellite Church’ or it would not have happened. My uncle Hardy and my Uncle Frank were greatly embarrassed over this remark from a member of the Methodist congregation. Each church had a bell and I have never listened to more wonderful bells, and when 9 o’clock Sunday came, those bells made the very forests ring, one trying to outdo the other.”

Reuben Doty and W.H. Wiltse shared the duties of minister those first few years. According to Teddy Leavitt, believed to be an evangelist who held revival meetings in the area, Reuben Doty died and Rev. Wiltse moved away in the very early 1900s. Without a minister, and the Church closed it’s doors. According to an article in the Cottage Grove Sentinel printed July 14, 1977, “Nellie Henderson, who lives in Eugene, said attendance in the church had its ups and downs. She remembers when the church building was used as a high school from 1913 to 1920,” until the new Lorane High School was built in 1921. Later, the Lorane Orchard Company offered to rent the Church building for a storage and packing house. The offer was refused. In 1933, the Church was allowed by the Lorane High School board to hook into the school water line. On January 7, 1934, under the leadership of Howard Hutchins, the Church was revived and has been active ever since. In its “rebirth” the enrollment of the Church was small, frequently only 15 or 20 “few faithful folks,” according to Arvid Rothauge. Some of these included Nellie Gowing, Frank Davis, John Dunn, Lottie Mitchell, and later Blanche and Taylor Circle, Greek Drullinger and May Burns to name a few. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the church’s ministers were usually students from Northwest Christian College who came out each Sunday to conduct services. One of these student ministers was John Schmid who later served many years as the minister of the Lorane Christian Church. In 1933, the Rev. A.M. Williams was the pastor of the church. The parsonage was built in 1948, from lumber donated from an old house which had been torn down on the former Eyanson property. Rev. Robert Green was the first full-time minister, and served the church until the mid-1950s. The next full-time minister of the church was Rev. Martin Lee. In 1940, the Lorane Ladies Aide Society was responsible for the addition of the kitchen area to the Lorane Christian Church. They spent a great deal of time making and selling quilts and putting on ham dinners to raise the money necessary to construct the addition. In the early 1940's, Arvid Rothauge and Art Kragenbrink headed a movement to remodel and bring the church up to “standard.” Frank Davis was also instrumental in helping to supervise the improvements. Up until that time, the church sat on blocks, and those blocks had worn to the point that, as Arvid Rothauge recalled , “if two fellows got on opposite sides of the church, they could teeter-totter the whole floor.” The roof was also leaking, and the steeple needed repairs. Community members put a new foundation under the whole building, improved the electrical wiring, built a front entryway and re-roofed the church and steeple. Before the electrical wiring was improved, there were just four bare light bulbs hanging from the 14' ceiling. The ceilings were lowered and new windows were put in. Art Kragenbrink took charge of the volunteer crew that added a kitchen, a social hall and classrooms to the main church building. Before the work began, there were wood stoves in two corners of the church, and the metal stove pipes criss-crossed along the ceiling, hanging from wires 10' above the floor. The pipes radiated enough heat to heat the building. They exited into the attic and through the roof. But, when the attic was inspected, it was discovered that the wood beams near the stove pipe were charred and blackened from the heat. It was then that an electric heating system was installed. The whole remodeling project took nearly ten years to complete. In 1945, a house was purchased by the Ladies Aide Society. In 1947, the Parsonage remodel was completed. By 1951, the large classrooms and the annex wing was completed. By 1956, the reconstruction included the completion of all new foundations, a lowered Sanctuary ceiling, new electric wiring and heat, new windows, front entrance rebuilt, the main sanctuary and steeple roofed, and the main floors tiled. By 1961, the new kitchen annex, the Baptistry, and restrooms were completed In 1959, the Church was incorporated and officially named Lorane Christian Church. Earl and Nellie Gowing were quite active in the early days of the church. Nellie Gowing would frequently fix Sunday dinner for the minister and his wife. Each Sunday, Earl Gowing would go to the church early to start a fire in the stove and later, all of the Gowing family, including their dog, Shep, would go to the church services. Shep would sit on the front step and howl as hymns were sung. The men sat on one side of the main aisle and the women on the other. Willard Gowing remembers the particular discomfort he felt each Sunday when he was made to dress for church services. Knee britches and long black stockings were not his idea of what was proper. “I just hated to have other kids I knew see me in those things. I would have to say that if it hadn't been for Old Shep escorting me, it would have been a lot harder.” Earl Gowing helped the local ministers perform baptisms for those who wished to be baptized by immersion. A special spot in the Siuslaw River was selected for these baptisms. It was known as the Schurger Hole and was located at the end of Fire Road. Lou Hayes remembers attending what she remembers then as the Lorane Church of Christ, as a child during the 1950s, on Sunday mornings. “A very large wood-burning stove was located in the center aisle near the front pews. Many of the small children would sit near the stove and it was a very warm spot – so warm that it would make us drowsy. The long stove pipe went up towards the very high ceiling where it was secured and an elbow changed the direction and it continued toward the chimney some distance away. “Later in my teen years, many of the youth of the Church looked forward to attending the Christian Endeavor Youth Group meeting on Sunday evenings. One particular exciting event occurred when Loretta Purdy took her daughter Connie, Hazel and Pauline Williamson, and me to the State Convention in Astoria where Mark Hatfield was the keynote speaker. We were very impressed by his inspirational message.” A partial list of remembered pastors include: Reuben Doty, William Wiltse, Teddy Leavitt, Howard Hutchins (1926-1929), Royce Crediford, A.M. Williams (1933), Walter Strom (1934), Vincent Monterola (1934), Otto Cromroy (1935), J.M. Shelly (1936-1938), I.W. Shaw (1937), Milton Faxon (1938-1940), Elston Knight (1940), James Powell, Loren Arnett, Glen Vernon, Wendell Small (1942), Paul Nance (1943), Tom Grenstead (1943-1944), Robert Green (1944-1946; 1948-1954), John Schmid (1946-1948; 1970-1980), Martin Lee (1954), Dean Propeck (1960-1962), Frank Fleming (1962-1964), Dan Wilson (1964-1966; 1968-1969), Matthew Madathil (1966-1968), Charlie Bilderback (1968), Roy Biggs (1969), Robert Adams (1980-1989), Scott Bilderback, Charles Powell, Jeff Cline (1998-2003) and present pastor, Shane Mattingly (2003- present).

According to Arvid Rothauge, “Since 1948, seven young people have gone out from the Church to prepare themselves for the ministry and full time service for the Lord. They include: David Warner, Scott Bilderback, Charley Bilderback, Roberta Tew, Arlin Rothauge, Sandy Purdy and David Drullinger. From Sawdust and Cider to Wine by Patricia Ann Edwards, Nancy O'Hearn and Marna Hing